Hi tiredbutnotweary -
DD1 adored numbers in nursery and happily counted even and odd numbers with me up the road as we walked to the park. She could count to 20 no problem leaving nursery and recognised numbers. Year R we mentioned that other schools had children from her nursery doing actual problems but were told the school policy was not to deal with 'real numbers' until Y1/ Y2 when they start the national curriculum. We had maths puzzles/ games as homework in Year R - they were enjoyable and did sometimes include counting (like snakes & ladders) but didn't really progress things.
Year 1. We had barely any homeworks - maybe 10 in total for the entire year. All were pattern colouring work - so beads or cars that you had to colour in different patterns using 2 or 3 colours. We again raised our concern and said that friends from nursery at other schools were getting formal maths work but were told at St. Mediocre (as we affectionately call this school) they work on underlying understanding of numbers first and then work with more traditional methods we'd recognise later. We were assured things would pick up in Y2.
At the start of Y2 DD1 got her first proper maths homework - with actual problems - 10 + 2, 13 + 3, etc... She really really loved it. I wrote in the workbook that DD1 really enjoyed this homework and said I hoped we could get more like it. (I very definitely didn't mean right now - but meant next homework). I went into school a few days later and the teacher came out into the school yard and shouted at me about how busy she is and how she doesn't have time to be creating homeworks to please me. I was furious but DH said it was probably just a misunderstanding so he went in to explain that we weren't asking for extra work just that we liked that DD1 was working with actual numbers and would like to see more homeworks like that. He also got an earful of abuse from the teacher.
We had meetings with the teachers and the HT who supported the teachers and informed us we were too demanding and needed to understand that DD1 was just a little bit dim. We then opted to go with mathsfactor - which coincidentally was starting up at that time and I happened to read about in a magazine someone left on the train. We've never looked back.
DD1 has finished arithmetic school and is about 2/3rds the way through algebra school - she's really liked that it has been taught by a woman (helped her to see girls could be good at maths - which was one of my aims) - we have been thrilled with the outcome. She has incredibly secure and methodically learned calculation skills and understands number patterns clearly (better than me in some cases). She's on track for a strong NC L5 at KS2 SATs and they will also sit her for L6 SATs paper in Maths. So fantastic outcome - BUT... and this is where my blood pressure gets out of control - she's now streets ahead of her contemporaries in her class many of whom were way ahead of her at the end of KS1 - AND THAT'S JUST WRONG. I'm glad we were in a position where parting with £14.99 a month wasn't a huge issue as a family - but it frankly is ridiculous that parents have to pay for their children to learn maths outside of school. Post 11+ it's now clear that many parents heavily invested in tutors, workbooks, text books in maths and did a lot of home support of maths to get good results.
This is ostensibly a 'GOOD' school according to OFSTED. However, the show they put on for the inspection and in the run up to inspection with all sorts of improvements in the curriculum/ Virtual learning envirnoment support etc... were phenomenol. They've all been dropped now - no more My MATHS. No more MOODLE. No more Spanish as MFL in KS2. Y6 is now entirely only maths/ english and practice SATs tests - the class is split in two - those clear to pass (NC L4 or higher) and those still struggling to achieve NC L4. The upper group are now being taught by the Y2 teacher.
Something is very wrong in the system.
However I just keep telling myself 6 more months and she's free of the place.